Acute isolation is associated with increased reward responsiveness in human adolescents

Abstract

Abstract Social connection is a basic human need and particularly important during adolescence. How a lack of connection impacts adolescent behaviour is unclear. To address this question, we employed experimental short-term isolation, first, to assess how isolation affects reward seeking and reward learning in adolescents aged 16-19 years and, second, whether virtual interactions remediate isolation effects. Isolation was associated with faster decisions to exert effort for rewards and higher reward learning, especially from social feedback. These effects were stronger in participants who reported higher levels of loneliness following isolation. Virtual interactions remediated effects only partially and were associated with lower learning from social feedback. We explored predictors of sensitivity to isolation and found that participants with lower neural reward sensitivity at baseline showed stronger effects of isolation. These results demonstrate that, in adolescents, isolation is associated with higher reward responsiveness, a key driver of motivation and decision-making.